Be Here Now: Snapshot Eeviews Of New Releases 4-1-14
Cloud Nothing’s Album Of The week
She Looks So Perfect – 5 Seconds Of Summer – The boys most likely to take up where 1D left off play their own guitars and ruffle up their pop rock, capped by a Romantics cover – C+
A State Of Trance 2014 Specials – Armin Van Buuren – Van Buuren answer the question of making money through recorded music by totally ignoring, taping the DJ Sets he plays throughout the world and giving them away on his website. How does he do it? – B-
Off The Grid Doin’ It Dylan – The Charlie Daniels Band – “Country Pie” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” are so good and “Tangled Up In Blue” so chancy, you almost forgive him all the misfires – B
La Gargola – Chevelle – “Heavy lurching riffs” and bass as written, not as good as Helmet or Tool, but as good as Sevendust that’s for sure – C+
Head Or Heart – Christina Perri – Perri is a pretty girl with her way around a melody and the smarts to ride a song on a “Twilight” soundtrack to fame and fortune. But she isn’t good enough to be worth much attention, doesn’t come within a mile of sustaining an album, and Ed Sheeran’s presence doesn’t help in the slightest – C
Here And Nowhere Else – Cloud Nothings – If this is the best rock album of 2014 so far, that is as much an indictment of rock as a celebration of Dylan Baldi who began life as a one band bedsit guy recording with Bridgetown before growing outward with an Albani jolt. This is pure rock and roll energy and a constant mind bending loud rules head strung screamer of an album – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A
Hundreds Of Ways/Governor’s Ball – Conor Oberst – The worried about decline of Connor continues unabated. Two shrug worthy tracks off his new album. Five years since his first solo album but it might as well be 50 – B-
Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne – Not the best tribute album ever, but better than both of the Dylan ones recently released. Sara Watkins nails “Your Bright Baby Blues” and the Springsteens perform a rare duet – B
Here Be Monsters – Jon Langford And Skull Orchard – American from the Mekon with a half finished aesthetic to give it a shaggy, scruffy smart do look – B
Broken Crown Halo – Lacuna Coil – Goth rock metal from Italy –who should know better – C-
Life Journey – Leon Russell – The album cover is great. A full face portrait sorta metallic or chrome sculpture. All crags and age and hair and wide eyed stare, he looks like a prophet who just wandered out of the Old – D+
Cope – Manchester Orchestra – Didn’t I like these guys for a week back when? They seem to have lost whatever personality they once had and this is medium cool rock ordinaire – C
White People Party Music – Nick Cannon – It doesn’t work as a joke album and only occasionally functions as an EDM album, but as an EDM joke, he gets a punchline or two – C+
In My Soul – Robert Cray Band – I never much liked Cray till I saw him with Chuck Berry than I liked him, then I didn’t, then I saw him with BB King and Buddy Guy and I liked him again and now this soul blues album has me back in the don’t much like side of life – C+
Saudade – Thievery Corporation – In which the electronic smart boys discover the bossa nova – B-
Imaginary Enemy – The Used – When punks grow up they get boring – C
